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Hey, Everyone! I hope
that you are safe and well. I know that times are tough, and we are all in this
difficult situation together. The most important thing we can do is to stay
home and stay safe, if at all possible. And we need to pray for not only
ourselves, but also for the rest of the world while keeping in our prayers
those who are on the front lines trying to help us and to keep us safe.
How are you handling
staying inside? I know that for some people it might be easy, but for other
people it is difficult, especially those who are used to socializing and being
out. But we can do this! We have to for our safety and for the safety of those
we love as well as everyone else.
Below are some
suggestions that I hope might help you stay busy so that you forget you are
isolated, well kind of forget.
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Some ideas for
staying inside might include:
- Calling and talking to a friend or a loved one (either by phone or video chat)
- Doing activities or games with those living together (cards, board games, PS4/Xbox)
- Cooking a new recipe (desserts sound delicious)
- Exercising with a video or on a treadmill (we need to stay in shape after eating the dessert)
- Reading books (one of my favorite activities)
- Watching movies or shows (also something I enjoy)
- Listening to some songs that you like (create your favorite playlists)
- Drawing or painting (even if you’re not Picasso, you can still just enjoy it
- Making some kind of arts and crafts (this could be fun with kids)
- Repairing or cleaning up around the house
- Working from home (at least some of us)
- Writing (those who enjoy writing can keep a journal or write a bit of poetry and stories)
- Watch videos about anything you want to know more about (a time to learn new things)
*As
for me, I like watching videos on every aspect of filmmaking, as this is my
passion after writing.
I’m teaching online for
the time being during this crisis, so you can imagine the homework I have to
grade. At least it keeps me busy. I’m
sure many of us are now starting to get used to working online. Some essential
workers still must go out and brave the world, but most of us are stuck either
working from home and probably learning some new skills.
While I’m resting and
sometimes getting bored at looking at the four walls, I do try to do some of
the things on my list, and it does help. I also spend my time writing. I’m
rewriting and editing one novel, and I got inspired a couple of weeks ago and
started a new novel. At least while writing, I can escape to another world and
live with my characters.
Whatever works to
de-stress you and help you through this isolation period, then please do it, and
I hope you enjoy it. Below are suggestions of some movies, series and books
that I enjoy, and believe me it was hard to limit these lists as there are so
many amazing books and fantastic movies/shows out there!
We should really thank
all of the artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, game designers and all
creatives who give us such amazing things to watch, play and read. We would be
completely bored without their efforts and creativity.
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My top movies (different
genres, as I like variety)
Forrest Gump
The Godfather
Knives Out
Joker
The Bone Collector
The Dark Knight
The Avengers (all of
them, especially the first)
Black Panther
Iron Man (all of them)
Venom
A Few Good Men
Django Unchained
Angels and Demons
Murder on the Orient
Express
Lord of the Rings (the
whole Trilogy)
Harry Potter series
Monster-in-Law
My Best Friend’s Wedding
The Matrix
Hannibal
It
Us
The Conjuring (both 1 and
2)
The King’s Speech
The Post
Spotlight
Braveheart
The Last Samurai
Creed (1 and 2)
Star Wars
Pirates of the Caribbean
(all of them)
The Hunger Games
Any Jackie Chan movie (He
is amazing!)
Older movies:
Casablanca
His Girl Friday
Any movie by Hitchcock
Some Great 80s
Movies (for memories):
The Breakfast Club
Ferris Bueller’s Day
Off
Back to the Future
The Lost Boys
The Terminator
The Princess Bride
Beetlejuice
The Karate Kid (the
original)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Dead Poets Society
The Color Purple
Field of Dreams
Movies for Kids (I
like them, too)
Aladdin
Brave
Beauty and the Beast
(cartoon form)
Megamind
Shark Boy and Lava Girl
Spy Kids
Paddington
Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory
The Lion King
Charlotte’s Web
The Wizard of Oz
Harry Potter (again as it
fits here)
Bollywood (get the
subtitles in English):
Bahubali (1 and 2; excellent:
story, cinematography, music, acting, etc.)
Sanju
Munna Bhai
3 Idiots
Dangal
My top series
Stranger Things
Mindhunter
Hannibal
Dexter
Peaky Blinders
Dawn til Dusk (I liked the series better than the movie)
V-Wars
The Mist (Stephen King is
good any time)
Sherlock
Witcher
Taboo
Vikings
Supernatural
The Sinner
Vampire Diaries
The Originals
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My top books (or
writers)
Classics
by Jane Austen, Ernest Hemingway, Charlotte Bronte, Shakespeare, etc.
Who doesn’t like a good
Shakespeare? Lots of drama with murder, love and mayhem!
Janet Evanovich
(any book, especially Wicked Appetite and Wicked Business)
Dan Brown
(Da Vinci Code; Angels and Demons)
Stephen King
(all of his books)
Anne Rice (Wolfgift is my favorite)
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Highly recommended
Indie Authors and those from small Publishing Houses (also my friends):
Norma Beishir
(Chasing the Wind and The Unicorn’s Daughter)
Eve Gaal
(Penniless Hearts and Penniless Souls)
Lorelei Bell
(all of the Sabrina Strong series: Trill, Nocturne, Caprice, etc.)
Mark Richard Hunter
(Storm Chaser and The Notorious Ian Grant)
Cameo Renae
(Hidden Wings series and ARV-3)
Mary Ting
(ISAN: International Sensory Assassin Network)
Cathy Jackson
(Five Coffees)
Brooklyn Hudson
(Wishbone series)
Cyn Bagley
(She Called It, Wolf)
Lin Robinson
(Bailin’)
Angie Fox
(The Accidental Demon Slayer series)
Susan Finlay
(Liars’ Games: Project Chameleon)
*Note that some of these
authors are currently having special deals on their books, so check them out. Some
of the best stories I’ve ever read are by Indie Authors.
Whatever you do to help
you survive the isolation, I hope you find something to read or to watch from
my suggestions. Stay safe and enjoy!
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